Shortly after Beijing ended its spree of military drills around Taiwan, and just weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit stirred up tension, a new delegation of lawmakers flew directly to the island over the weekend to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

The visit is likely to rekindle tensions after China encircled the island with live-fire military drills in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month.

The bipartisan congressional delegation, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Ed Markey (D., Mass.), plans to spend two days on the island and is expected to also meet with senior Taiwanese government and private-sector leaders to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, global supply chains and climate change.

“The delegation will reaffirm the United States’ support for Taiwan,” a spokesperson for Mr. Markey said, adding the lawmakers would “encourage stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait.”

Taiwan’s Presidential Office said the lawmakers would meet with Ms. Tsai on Monday. “At a time when China continues to escalate regional tensions, the U.S. Congress once again organized a heavyweight delegation to visit Taiwan to demonstrate friendship without fear of China’s threats,” Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said, noting that the delegation would also meet with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

In protesting the visit, Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the U.S. had “spared no effort to stir up confrontation” between Beijing and Taipei.

“China will take resolute countermeasures in response to the U.S.’s provocations,” Mr. Liu said.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

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